Alwaleed, who has a net worth estimated to be just below $20bn, has taken the stake in conjunction with his Kingdom Holding Company investment firm.

Applying an $8bn valuation figure for Twitter used by some analysts, the investment amounts to a 3.75% stake.

In a statement, Kingdom Holding said that the investment was "the result of several months of negotiations and comprehensive due diligence".

"Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact," said Alwaleed.

Ahmed Halawani, executive director of private equity and international investments at KHC, said social media will "fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years".

"Twitter will capture and monetise this positive trend," he said.

Alwaleed also holds a 7% stake in News Corporation through KHC.

In August social media investor DST, which also owns stakes in Zynga and Groupon, took a $400m stake in Twitter.

KHC also owns a 29.9% stake in Saudi Research and Marketing Group, which owns a variety of publications.

Last year Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation took an initial 9.09% stake in Rotana Media Group, Alwaleed's film, TV and music business, with an option to increase this to 18.18% over the course of 18 months.